DOR Catches Up on Backlog of Rhode Island Abatements

By reassigning staff and adding a Saturday shift, the Department of Revenue has been able to significantly reduce the overall backlog of abatements and anticipates that most Rhode Island claims will be processed by the end of November. We appreciate your patience and cooperation while waiting for your abatement claim to be processed.

DOR received more than 44,000 associated claims as a result of a ruling released in March 2012 (Revised DOR Directive 12-1 ) that allowed Massachusetts residents working in Rhode Island to file a credit against their Massachusetts personal income tax for mandatory payments to Rhode Island according to that state’s Temporary Disability Insurance Act.

Since this influx of claims increased our normal annual volume by more than one-third, a backlog resulted and abatement processing was delayed. Please note that many of the claims received were filed on paper and paper forms always take longer to process than electronically filed claims.

Filing an abatement or amended return takes just a few minutes with our secure and easy to use WebFile for Income – using it means you can save time and get your refund quicker!

Ann Dufresne is Communications Director at the Department of Revenue. She joined DOR in July 2012 after ten years in state goverment. She previously served as Communications Director for MassDOT Registry of Motor Vehicles and for Senate Presidents Therese Murray and Robert Travaglini.